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PRODUCING: Pre-Show Speech - Land Acknowledgements

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AndyS:
For people working on colonised land (I get the impression a lot of people here are from North America? But also anyone else to whom this applies), I'm wondering what the various regional norms are for land acknowledgements and any thoughts and suggestions for the choices you make when drafting one? There's a LOT of variation where I am, and I have strong opinions on some aspects of the one I do, but it's also always evolving.

Some basic questions to get started:

* If the name(s) have been anglicised, do you use the anglicised names or the names in their languages?
* What descriptors do you use for the land? (unceded, ancestral, occupied, traditional, stolen, &c.)
* Are you on treaty land and how does that affect your choices?
* Are there political tensions between local nations and how do you navigate that?
* Does your company do a version for the programme, and does that differ from the spoken one?
* What's your position on including an expression of gratitude?
* If you draft yours in consultation with your company/producer/venue, have there been conflicts and how do you navigate that?
Mine as it stands is:
We acknowledge that this performance is taking place on stolen land within the unceded and occupied territories of the Halq’eméylem peoples, including the Xʷməθkʷəy’əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səlil̓wətaɁɬ nations.

What's yours?

Edited to add topic tag - Maribeth

KMC:
Be careful with virtue signaling, especially if wholly unrelated to the subject matter of the production.  If this is a professional production put on by an established and respected company then your audience is likely going to run the gamut of age, income level, and opinion.  A heterogeneous group will have a wide range of emotional response to a statement like this; the response is likely to range from complete concurrence and support all the way through to dismissal and laughter.  Your audience's experience begins the second they step foot in the door of the facility - why risk alienating supporters if the subject matter of the production is unrelated?

PSMKay:
KMC - it isn't really virtual signaling in Canada, where first nations have far more clout.


For those outside of Canada who may not understand the practice of land acknowledgement in that country, here's a bit of a quick primer at CBC.

loebtmc:
At Native Voices, which is a First Nations (union) theatre company in LA on the grounds of Griffith Park's Autry Museum of the SouthWest, the top of each show includes appreciation to the land, to the elders, and to the indigenous local tribes. I love this practice, and when I produced the Diversity Awards for the west on behalf of AEA and then AEA/SAG/AFTRA, I always made sure this was included at the top of the show by someone from the Native community regardless of where we held the event. It's such a great thing to remind people that, well, they were here first.

Mac Calder:
Talk to the local native council or similar if it exists - where I am, in Perth Australia, the traditional "Acknowledgement of Country" would be along the following lines:


--- Quote ---The <Insert Show Name Here> company wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the Whadjuk people. We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.
--- End quote ---

It is not generally done before performances except where there is some special significance (ie a performance for high level dignitaries as part of a special gathering) or if the performance is of cultural significance. However in these circumstances it is far more common to have a local elder perform a Welcome to Country.

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